No such thing as an audition safety.
I was reading back about having been cast in spicy roles and had to laugh. My daughter was a dirty cheerleader doing shocking sexual things all summer in equity musical and just finished a university straight theatre production as a meth using stripper prostitute. She was so awesome in the prostitute role though that I kind of forgot that was my daughter on stage.
@shanaboo - a true safety is one for which you don’t have to audition and for which your academic stats are well within their accepted range. Is there a school your D would be happy attending if she were not to get in an my program?
Not a safety, but in TX with slightly better admission odds might be West Texas or Sam Houston? I think someone mentioned Texas Tech as well?
Columbia College in Chicago used to be a safety for many but I believe they now have an audition for their BFA.
Although not safeties by any means, you might also want to look at the threads about programs with later auditions - some people (@KaMaMom comes to mind) have done a wonderful job seeking out opportunities after the first audition results did not come in as desired. There are a number of schools that accept later applications and have later audition dates. Some that come to mind are Northern Kentucky University (April audition) and I believe Nebraska Wesleyan. But perhaps someone more tech savvy than me can direct you to the link about these late-in-the-season auditions in case you want to add more to your list.
@theaterwork My D is a sophomore MT major @ Ball State. I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the program there. My D absolutely loves it! We are OOS but she did receive a nice talent scholarship! Sutton Foster usually co-directs a production every 4 years. She also works with the seniors in the NYC showcase each year. She was on campus for that last spring and came to see a play my daughter was in. Love how much she supports these kids!
@shanaboo - Tulsa University offers a BA in MT which is non-audition, however, the school is a fairly tough academic admit. St. Edward’s in Austin has a fine non-audition theatre program with an MT minor (there are auditions for scholarships and some parts of the BFA Acting or MT minor programs may require an audition for entry, I am not sure). St. Edwards’s offers the opportunity to earn your Equity card or least rack up EMC points at the Mary Moody Northern Theatre. There are several audition-based MT programs in Texas and Oklahoma that draw from a more regional pool of applicants including Central Oklahoma, UT Arlington, Sam Houston State, Abilene Christian, and West Texas A&M. Baylor, TCU, and SMU are pretty competitive for entry.
@shanaboo We did the same thing two years ago - making the mistake of applying/auditioning to all of the Ivies of the MT world. This board was invaluable to me then and helped me craft a game plan with several late in the season options.
My daughter is happily a sophomore at Nebraska Wesleyan - and I write this literally from the car as my husband drives through Iowa on our way to see her in another production. (Second this year!)
Off the top of my head (as I try to type and not get carsick - ha!) schools with later auditions are: Western Carolina, Western Illinois, Northern Kentucky, Rockford, Nebraska Wesleyan. I also think you can still get in in enough time for other schools like Ball State & Western Michigan.
I’m partial to Nebraska (for obvious reasons!) but you definitely have time to readjust your game plan.
Thanks @KaMaMom
Thanks for all the feedback. We are readjusting our game plan for sure. Wish I would’ve discovered this site a few months ago!
Was anyone else at the University of the Arts in Philly for auditions yesterday? It was my S first live audition and it was interesting…power outage, buildings were evacuated and fire extinguishing foam was filling the streets. Auditions were cancelled 1/2 way through the day! I hope the rest of the audition season goes better! LOL
People will say…don’t always listen to people on CC…which of course is true to an extent but this particular forum has been invaluable. I would have had no idea to hire a college audition coach if I hadn’t learned that here. It’s also how I helped my D build her list.
^^^^agree!! I did not know about CC until well into the audition season the 1st time. It would have been nice to have know about the forums by Junior year - the process for the first time was like walking through a room of furniture in the dark.
@nodaybut2daymom so sorry that happened to you! Did your son get to audition? Hope the school accommodates all who were there.
@shanaboo My daughter will be attending West Texas A&M MT next fall. Tech was on her list, since it is down the road from us, and she went went and shadowed a few MT classes and met some of the staff. She liked Tech, but fell in love with West Texas. She loved the staff at WT and felt at home there. The talent is truly amazing at WT as well I would encourage you to take a look at their program. I truly think it is a hidden gem. The tuition can’t be beat either!
@bfahopeful All of the students did the preliminate audition, around 60 kids. 25 were invited to stay for call back auditions in the afternoon. About 20 minutes into callbacks was when they lost power and were evacuated. They said they will make decisions based on the morning auditions. We will see what happens!
I think that there are forums on CC that are amazing and some can get tricky. I have spent some the AP history forums giving advice (since I teach AP history) there, it is mostly kids- and sometimes their ideas are WILDLY inaccurate, and they are not interested in changing them. Also- things on the parent’s forum can get heated- and tense. To read over there, if your kid is not a STEM major at a top 20 university- they should pretty much give up. There is also a significant contingent there who maintain that anyone who is paying for a top 20 college is throwing $$ hand over fist. I think that is what college people are talking about when they say - stay off of CC
I would be lost without CC glad I found it when my d was a sophomore. She is a Senior now and I still feel unsure sometimes. Glad lots of people are on this journey with me. I would go crazy waiting to hear without you guys.
Here is the thread from last year listing schools with auditions late in the season:
Does anyone know how to sign up for Western Michigan MT audition? All materials (app and accepted) have been submitted but we can’t figure out where/how to schedule.
Hey @nodaybut2daymom! We too were at UofArts for the truncated auditions. Sorry the kids didn’t get their 2nd round (maybe full scholarship as compensation for the stress?) but hopeful they saw enough to judge everyone fairly. My D really liked what she saw. She’s a country girl and it took me by surprise that she liked the urban setting.
@5stlpals My memory of Western Michigan is they contacted us by email to schedule an audition – closer to Unifieds. All our stuff had been in for quite awhile before it was scheduled. It was one of the later ones that was scheduled.
Thanks @mtmamma2020!